TqB Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 Due to a long term interest in 19th century Devonshire Devonian coral specimens, I've been looking for an example of this local marble ware to analyse for quite a while. (It's not quite a true marble but a limestone that has undergone low grade metamorphism.) Made probably circa 1860-1870, it shows a good selection of corals and stromatoporoids that were typically sourced from S. Devon beach pebbles. These in turn are largely derived from Permo-Triassic conglomerate that contains large quantities of Middle Devonian fossiliferous pebbles. Pieces 3 & 24 are intriguing as they seem to be Carboniferous Lithostrotion which I haven't come across before in any similar pieces. The malachite was imported from the Urals (at high expense). There are a few plain sediment slices, probably local although no. 8 may be Italian marble. There's some damage (which made it affordable!) mainly to the black Belgian? marble base but the all-important coral and stromatoporoid plaquettes are fine. The original glass ink bottle is missing and has been replaced by a mosaic lid which is probably from a separate matching ink stand. (The three other trays I've seen have original glass ink bottles with metal lids.) Technically it's more damage but a bonus for the palaeontologist. Numbered for IDs below. 1 stromatoporoid ? Dendrostroma 2 solitary rugose Acanthophyllum 3 rugose, apparently Lithostrotion (L. decipiens?)Mississippian . I don't know of a Devonian coral like this, with thin septa and a columella. It's possibly from the Bristol area - they sometimes used Carboniferous oolite from there. Or more intriguingly it may have come from the Permian conglomerate - though I can't find any mention of non-Devonian corals from it. 4 probable stromatoporoid - very recrystallised and needing photographic enhancement to show even this much 5 sediment 6 tabulate Thamnopora (see the similar no. 11 for photo). 7 stromatoporoid 8 unknown marble (?Yellow Petitor or Italian) 9 tabulate Alveolites 10 stromatoporoid (similar to no. 1) 11 tabulate Thamnopora. This preservation has been widely used as "Feather Stone" and much larger pieces were sourced from quarries. 12 stromatoporoid 13 stromatoporoid 14 rugose Hexagonaria 15 tabulate Favosites 16 tabulate Thamnopora (similar to no. 11) 17 sediment 18 tabulate Pericephalopora (lower centre), stromatoporoids inc. Amphipora 19 rugose Frechastraea (one of my favourites) 20 tabulate Favosites Here's the list for the lid, all the same types as the main piece except for no. 25 (Haplothecia). 21 rugose Frechastraea 22 tabulate Alveolites 23 tabulate Favosites 24 rugose ? Lithostrotion 25 rugose Haplothecia 26 sediment 27 stromatoporoid 28 tabulate Thamnopora 29 tabulate Favosites 24 & 25, Lithostrotion (same as no. 3) and Haplothecia (unique to lid) 21 Frechastraea (below) and 22 Alveolites (middle), same as nos. 19 & 9 but rather nice. 2 10 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 This is a really cool piece, Tarquin! Thanks for posting it here!! 1 Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 IPFOTM -- MAY - 2024 _________________________________________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TqB Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 3 hours ago, Fossildude19 said: This is a really cool piece, Tarquin! Thanks for posting it here!! Thanks, Tim! And I can keep pens in it. 1 Tarquin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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